Preventing Shoplifting During The Holiday Season

October is almost half gone and before you know it the holidays will be fast approaching.  The beginning of the holiday season for many people starts around thanksgiving, but for the retail industry and the small shop owner the season has already started. Security during this time of year is a challenge for the retail industry to say the least.  Preventing shoplifting requires them to be aware of the new trends in technology and decide what will work for them.  Will they need to hire more loss prevention personnel? Are the new cameras working as expected?  Are the new hires trained and ready for the challenge of stopping a shoplifter?  The challenges facing the retail industry are many, and during this time of year, shoplifting and employee theft are very serious concerns for them.

Video Surveillance Tools: Seeing the Big Picture

Before deciding on a digital video security system, learn how the technologies work.

Video surveillance systems have become a mainstay for many loss prevention programs. As the technology evolves and business needs grow more complex, loss prevention leaders are looking for solutions that are both affordable and capable of meeting the escalating demands of the business.

LP Magazine sat down with Mike Dunn, vice president of business development for BSI, to garner his expertise and insights on building effective video surveillance systems and how to get the most out of existing systems to help maximize retailers’ options and investment.

What are the primary considerations when choosing between an analog versus an Internet protocol (IP) camera system?

Before deciding on a video option, it is advisable to first understand how the technologies work, as the differences in both camera technologies and method of video transmission are critical to developing a well-planned video solution.

Shrinkage causes $123b loss to global retailers

Shrinkage is defined as losses from shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud and administrative errors.

The retail sector in the Middle East should adopt effective strategies and solutions to curtail ‘shrinkage’ to improve profitability as it caused up to $123.39 billion in loss to global retailers in 2014-15, experts say.

Referring to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer Study conducted by Checkpoint Systems, the industry experts claimed that shrinkage, defined as losses from shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud and administrative errors, accounted for 1.23 per cent of total retail sales in 2014-15 compared to 0.94 per cent in the previous year.

Jayant Ghosh, business development manager, Checkpoint Middle East and Africa; and Ben Chua, Checkpoint product director for Asia Pacific, said shrinkage increased globally as retailers spent less on prevention and there was in increase in the type of products being targeted.

“In the US, we saw that apparel stores suffered the highest rates of shrink [2.28 per cent] followed by pharmacies/drugstores [2.25 per cent] and non-grocery retailers [1.9 per cent],” Chua recently told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of an event in Dubai.

Column: Everett boutique owner shocked by rampant shoplifting

By Kylie Sabra

Guest columnist

I have never shoplifted in my life — not even as a child.

It simply never occurred to me to take something that was not mine.

I am new to retail and I absolutely love my new life. Running ReFresh Boutique allows me to engage my artsy tendencies as well as my planning and logistical skills. I’ve lived a protected life I suppose. My professional career was in corporate marketing and communications where I dealt with a microcosm of humanity. I now find myself exposed to a far wider range of personalities, and most of them I enjoy immensely.

Then, there are the issues.

I remember how heartsick I felt the first time someone stole from me. It was an all-to-common occurrence.

I’ve been able to reduce much of the theft problem by adjusting security cameras and rearranging the store to remove blind spots and closely observing people with large bags, coats, purses and the like.